hewitt



No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. H. HEWITT. SLIDING DOOR.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. H. HEWITT.

SLIDING DOOR.

No. 325,245. Patented Sept. l, 1885.v

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

HERBERT H. HEVITT, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

SLIDING DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 325,245, datedSeptember 1, 1885.

Application filed June 13, 1835.

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HERBERT H. Hnwrrr, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, county and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Sliding Doors, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to sliding doors, and has for its object toimprove the operation of the same, and is particularly adapted to thatclass of car-doors constructed to move edgewise along the sides of thecar away from the door-opening. Such car-doors have heretofore beenprovided at their four corners with shoes or bearers adapted to slide ontop and bottom door-tracks secured to the sides of the car. Greatdifficulty is sometimes eX- perienced in manipulating car-doors of thisclass, as the shoes or bearers are caused to bind on their tracks byreason of the buckling or warping of the doors, and also by the rubbingof the central part of the doors against the carwalls, due to theoutward bulging of the carwalls. Now, my invention is designed toobviate all difficulties arising from the buckling or warping ofcar-doors and bulging of carwalls, to simplify and lessen the cost ofcardoor fittings, and to provide a secure locking device for the doors.In the iirst place I so make the connections oriittings of the cardooras to embrace the principle that three points of support or bearingstriangularly arranged always provide a steady base or freeworkingbearings, irrespective of the form of the structure to which they areapplied, and in applying this principle of construction to car-doors oneof the supports or bearings may be placed at the upper part of the frontor leading edge of the door, a second at the lower end of the frontorleading edge, and the third one at or on the rear or following edge ofthe door, and preferably at or near the central part of the same; and inconjunction with these three supporting shoes or bearers are used threeseparate rails or tracks, each having a length about equal to thedistance the cardoor is moved, thus saving over the old style (Nomodel.)

tance the door is moved. A further saving in cost of littings is had inthat the operatinghandle, which is a separate fittingin ordinary doors,is made a part of or integral with the shoe or bearer attached to therear or following edge of the door, and which slides on the railattached to the central part of the carbody, said shoe and rail alsobeing so made as to constitute a locking device for the door.

My invention also embodies, in the opera` tion of sliding doors, theprinciple long applied to sliding windows and shades of carriages andcars and to sliding doors, as shown in the United States Patent No.197,813, bearing date December 4, 1877, by which a window, shade, ordooris caused to slide in guides or ways to and from its opening indirection longitudinal thereto, and its front or leading edge is causedto move obliquely into the opening when it is about closed, and the rearor following edge is moved laterally into its side of the opening whenthe window, shade, or door is directly opposite the same, thus bringingthe window,shade,or door within theframework or do0rposts; but todescribe my invention more particularly I will now refer to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a view showingpart of the side of a car and my improved sliding-door attachments. Fig.2, Sheet 1, is a horizontal sectional view on the line .r x, showing thedoor closed. Fig. 3, Sheet 1, is a similar view showing the door open.Fig. 4, Sheet 1, is a vertical section on the line y y, showing the dooropen. Fig. 5, Sheet 2, is an enlarged view of a part of the centralguide-rail and its beari ngshoe in section, showing the rear edge of thedoor in closed position. Fig. 6, Sheet 2, is a similar View showing therear edge of the door moved out ofthe door-opening. Figs. 7 and 8, Sheet2, are edge and back elev-ations. respectively, of the centralbearing-shoe; and Fig. 9, Sheet 2, is a view representing my improvedmethod of operating car-doors applied to a hanging door.

In the application of my invention no change is made in the constructionof the carbody. The top and bottom door-tracks, 65 and 66, are securedto the side of the car above and below the door-opening, but do notextend beyond the dooropening, and instead of being paral- IOO lel orpartly parallel to the, side of the Car they are arranged at an anglethereto, their rear ends being at a sufficient distance from the side ofthe car to permit the door to slide freely from the opening along thecar parallel thereto. The door is provided with a shoe, 70, at its frontend, which embraces and slides on the bottom door-track, 66, and a shoeor hanger, 68, which embraces the top door-track, 65.

To support and control the movement of the rear.l end of the door, arail or track, a, is secured about midway between the tracks 66 to theside of the car, anda shoe or bearer, b, constructed to embrace the railafis secured to the rear end of the door. This rail a extends from thedoor along the side of the car to a'dist'ance about equal to the; wid-thof the door, and its end is bent at right angles and securely fastenedto the inside of the doei. post 44, the bent part a beingrednced inwid-th, as shown at Fig. 4 and in the enlarged views, and its outerendhc?, is bent inwardly,for the purpose hereinafter explained. TheShoeor bearer b is secured by screws or rivets. to the outside of thedoor, near its edge, and is provided with an inwardly-projecting block,b, having horizontal flanges c c', so spaced as to embrace the rail a,the upper-flange, c, taking the weight of the rear end of the door byrestfv ing on the top of the central rail, a, and verf tical ianges dd', projecting from the edges of the flanges cV c', arranged to bearagainst the inner side of the rail ct, to hold the shoe b alwaysthereon, and so spaced as to pass over the narrowed bent end a/ of therail a. The block b is recessed, as clearly shownin` Figs. 5 and 6, toadmi-t the corner of the rail a,when the rear edge of the door is movedinto the door-opening, Vas atFig. 6.

In line with the iianges o c are tlieperforated shoe b above and belowthe rail c, adapted to receive the door pin or staple 74, to lock thedoor when closed. On the front of the shoe b is the handle 78, and forconvenience and cheapness of manufacture and application the shoe b b,handle 78, guiding and controlling iianges c c d d', and locking-lugs ee are of one piece of metal, preferably a malleableiron casting. Thedoor, when closed, sets within the door-posts 44, or in rabbets orrecesses formed therein, said rabbets or recesses being shown in thedrawings as produced by the sheathing 52, which is secured to the frontof the doorposts, but does not entirely cover the same. To open t-hedoor, the rear end is moved outward until it is clear of the door-post,44

or sheathing 52, the anges d' d of the shoe b,

by coming in contact with the inside face of the rail a, preventing anyfurther movement in this direction. The door is then moved along itssupportingtracks, the central track, a, passing through an opening intherear stile and between two central rails of the door; and the bent endc2 of the central track forms a stop for the door, when it is fullyopened parallel to the side of the car, by the flanges d d of the shoe bcoming in contact therewith. In closing the door the front end, beingguided by the inclined tracks 65 66, moves obliquely into thedoor-opening against the front doorpost, and the rear end is pushed intothe openying within the edge of the sheathing 52, the

corner of the rail a entering the recess in the block b of the shoe. Thelugs e e are then so located that the door pinor staple 74, which isconnected to the shoe by means of a chain, can be passed through themand behind the rail or track a, thus preventing the outward movement andopening ofthe door. The lower end of the pin or staple 74 is perforatedfor the reception of a seal or other suitable securing device. I

In applying my improvements. to hanging i doors the plan illustrated inFig, 9v may be adopted, the upper front end being provided i with a shoeor hanger, 68, which supports; this I end ofthe door on the topdoor-track, 65 the bottom door-track, 66, being secured to the f bottomof the door, which is guided and controlled by the bracketshoes 70,secured to the From the preceding description of my iniproved threebearingfsupports applied to. cardoors the application of the inventionto other forms of sliding doors will bereadily suggested. VVhatI claim,and desire to secure by Letters Patent,v is- 1. In combination with asliding door,th-ree g short bearers or supports attached thereto, one atthe upper and one at the lower part of the front edge, and the other ator near the central part of the rear edge, and three independent xedtracks or guides, one secured above the door-opening-,one below thedoor-opening,

i and the other one extending from the central lugs e and c', projectingfrom the edge of the part of one side of the door-opening, thusproviding the door with three` bearingpoints c triangularly arranged forall positions occupied by the door, substantially as set forth.

Vcar, the central track or rail, c, and shoe b being as beforerdescribed.

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2. A car-door provided with three bearers or supports attachedthereto,one at the upper part and one at the lower part of the frontedge, and the other one at or near the central Vpart of the rear edge,in combination with three independent tracks or guides secured to theCarbody, one above and one below the door-opening, arranged at an angleto the side of the car, and the other one extending from oneside of saidopening and secured in a central position to one side of the car-body,parallel thereto, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combinati-on, with a central guidetrack secured to the car-body,of a bearer or shoe adapted to slide thereon, secured to the rear edgeof the door, and an operating-handle forming apart of or integral withsaid bearer or shoe, and means,substantially as described, forsupporting and guiding the front end of the door, substantially as setforth.

4. The combination, with a central rail attached to the side of thecar-body, and with its end narrowed and bent at right angles and securedto the door-post, of a sliding shoe or support attached to the door, andhaving a bearing-surface which embraces the longitudinal part of therail, and projecting flanges which bear against the inside of the sameand arranged to pass over the bent end of the rail, substantially as andfor the purpose sct forth.

5. A guide rail or track secured to the central part of the wall of aCarbody, with its end bent at right angles and secured to the door-post,and a bearer or support secured to the car-door, constructed to bear onthe rail or track, and provided With a locking device adapted to engagewith the rail or track when the bearer or support passes over the bentend of the rail or track, in combina` tion, substantially as set forth.

6. In a sliding car-door, -in combination, the top door-track, G5, theshoe or hanger 68, the bottom door-track, 66, the shoe 70, the centralrail or track,a, the supporting-shoe b, and the car-door and car-body,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In combnation,the central rail or track, a, the supporting-shoe b,with the handle 7 S, forming a part thereof, or integral therewith, andthe candoor and car-body, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

8. rIhe shoe b, provided with recessed block b', bearing-flanges c c',and stop-anges d d', in combination with the rail or track cc, withnarrowed bent end a', and the car-door and carbody, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

9. In cclnbinatiointhe shoe b,bearing flanges c c, stop-flanges d d, theperforated projecting lugs e e, the door pin or staple 74, the centralrail, a, and the car-door and car-body, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at New York, countyand State ot' New York, this 17 th day of March, 1885.

HERBERT H. HEWITT.

Witnesses:

ALFRED SHEDLOOK, H. D. XVILLIAMS.

